


I want to hold you (but my senses tell me to stop)

by TardisIsTheOnlyWayToTravel



Series: Red in tooth and claw [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (2011)
Genre: BAMF Maria Hill, Bars, F/F, Femslash, Foxes, POV Maria Hill, Shapeshifters - Freeform, Velociraptors, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-08
Updated: 2014-10-08
Packaged: 2018-02-20 09:15:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2423324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TardisIsTheOnlyWayToTravel/pseuds/TardisIsTheOnlyWayToTravel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You have to the count of five to get out of my space and leave me alone,” said Maria. “One–”</p>
            </blockquote>





	I want to hold you (but my senses tell me to stop)

**I want to hold you (but my senses tell me to stop)**

Maria didn’t go out often, these days.

In college she’d spent every weekend participating in roller derby, which had been fun as hell, and filled the hole in Maria’s social life quite nicely. But with how unpredictable life at SHIELD was, Maria had said goodbye to any kind of regular outing the moment she’d joined up. She didn’t regret it, even if she did sometimes find herself on a Friday night wishing she could exchange a pile of paperwork for a pair of roller skates. For the most part, Maria’s social life was nonexistent, which was for the most part something she could tolerate, even if it was sometimes annoying.

Every now and again, though, Maria would have one of those days, where she needed to get out and do something. Sometimes this was going jogging around Central Park late at night, neutralising would-be muggers and rapists who thought that a woman on her own was easy prey; sometimes it was being talked by Coulson into critiquing terrible television at his place. And sometimes, like tonight, it was heading out to her favourite bar.

 _Shifters_ was no ordinary bar. Instead, it was dedicated to a very particular clientele: namely, were-beings of all kinds. It was mostly frequented by werewolves – they were, after all, the most common type of were-being – but sometimes other kinds of were-beings went there, too. Things tended to be a bit rough-and-tumble there, a little rowdier than most bars were these days, but as long as you stuck to yourself, people tended to leave you alone.

Unfortunately,  there were always exceptions.

Maria walked in and took a seat at the bar, and was about to order a drink when a couple of guys sat down on either side of her, smelling strongly of wolf, and less-pleasant odours that suggested that they hadn’t bathed for a couple of days. Maria paused.

“Hey there,” said Knucklehead #1, leering in a way that showed off all his teeth. “I didn’t know there were were- _birds_.”

“That’s what you are, right?” said Knucklehead #2, sniggering. “A bird?”

For just a moment Maria fantasised about ripping both their throats out, before regretfully abandoning their idea.

“One, not a bird, two, I’d like to be alone,” Maria said shortly.

“Hey, don’t be like that,” said Knucklehead #2, while Knucklehead #1 leaned even further into Maria’s space. Maria could feel his breath on her face, hot and disgusting. There were a couple of other guys watching the scene, and Maria guessed that they were pack-mates to the pair of knuckleheads who were bothering her.

“You have to the count of five to get out of my space and leave me alone,” said Maria. “One–”

“Listen, bitch–” Knucklehead #1 snarled, his eyes turning yellow and his teeth sharpening.

“Two, three–”

“–I don’t care what kind of were you are, you can’t just–”

“Four, _five_ ,” Maria finished sharply, and slid off her stool to land firmly on her feet in the same moment as she shifted shape in a blur of claws and feathers. The two knuckleheads at the bar found themselves looking up at a vicious-looking velociraptor.

Maria let out an angry shriek, baring her teeth, and the knuckleheads went scrambling off their stools, yelping and whining in fear as she loomed over them. Maria gave a hiss, followed by an undulating call of challenge.

“Holy shit!” yelled out one of knuckleheads buddies, and the entire lot went running for the door.

Maria waited for a moment to see if anyone else intended to bother her, giving the entire bar the evil eye. People ducked their heads or cringed away. Satisfied, Maria let out a low noise deep in her throat, and turned back to the bar, shifting back into human form and once again taking a seat.

She turned to look at the gaping bartender, and flagged him down to order a scotch on the rocks.

Wisely, the man dumped some ice in a glass and poured scotch over it before passing the glass to Maria as quickly as possible.

Maria relaxed, and was about to drink her scotch when a girl of about twenty-five sat on the stool next to hers.

Maria tensed, but the young woman waved away her apprehension with an easy, “Hey, it’s cool, I’m not here to challenge you.”

The young woman made herself comfortable, and added, “Maria Hill, right? I’m Dr Foster’s intern.”

It took Maria a moment to recall the details of Dr Foster’s project, an attempt to replicate Asgard’s method of interstellar travel.

“You’re working on Dr Foster’s project?” Maria asked, and discreetly sniffed the air. The scent of the other woman was distinctive, but not one that Maria recognised.

“Well, kind of, if by ‘working on’ you mean bringing coffee to the people who are actually working on it, and translating science into coherent English,” said the young woman. She seemed perfectly at-ease with Maria, which was a new experience. “I do a lot of the paperwork, because Jane is terrible with that kind of stuff.”

The young woman grimaced, and added, “You should have seen Coulson’s face the first time he got an expense report written on a paper napkin. That was when I took over the paperwork.”

Maria tensed again, because few people knew that Coulson had actually survived the Chitauri invasion. Only Maria and Nick Fury knew that not only was Coulson alive, but that he was currently in Montana with Maria’s family, learning all about his brand-new life as a were-velociraptor.

“You knew Coulson before the invasion?” Maria asked, just to make sure.

The young woman nodded.

“When SHIELD first shanghaied us into working for  them, Coulson was our liaison guy,” she said. “We didn’t really get on, but I was sorry when I heard what had happened. He was good people.”

“He was,” Maria agreed, thankful yet again that her idea to save Coulson’s life had worked. “What’s your name?”

The young woman blinked.

“Oh my God, brain fart,” she complained. “Right, sorry. Darcy Lewis.”

“And what _are_ you?” Maria asked, because by this point she was genuinely curious.

Darcy grinned, sharp and mischievous, and a second later there was a small, sandy-coloured fox with ridiculously big ears sitting on the stool next to Maria’s. The fox sat there for a moment, letting Maria get a good look at it, before shifting back into human form.

Darcy leaned  back away from Maria for a moment, eyes wide.

“Okay, note to self, don’t take fennec form around you,” she said, with the air of someone only half-paying attention to what they were saying. “I can smell you a lot better in that form. You smell like feathers and predator.”

Maria let herself smile a little, but said nothing in response.

“You know, I’d heard you were a velociraptor, but seeing you in action was something else,” Darcy went on. Her nose twitched, and she relaxed. “You smell a lot less scary, when I’m human.”

Maria kept smiling. In spite of herself, she found herself amused by Darcy.

“So you’re a fennec?” she asked, unsure of exactly what that was.

“Yup, a fennec fox,” Darcy said cheerfully. “Desert animal. I never felt so at home as when I was interning with Jane in New Mexico, let me tell you. The dry heat was beautiful.”

“I know what you mean,” said Maria. “Velociraptors live in reasonably arid conditions. I always feel like there’s too much water in the air.”

“So why live in New York, then?” Darcy asked,  nudging Maria’s elbow with her own.

Maria shrugged.

“The job,” she said succinctly, not willing to say more in such a public place. Things rarely ended well for SHIELD agents who talked too much about what they did for a living.

Darcy nodded.

“I figured it was something like that. I moved here mostly because it was more convenient. You’ve got to admit, New York is pretty awesome, though. So were you turned, or born a were?”

Maria leaned on the bar, and turned to face Darcy a little more.

“Born,” she said. “You?”

“Oh, born,” Darcy said sunnily. “People think I’m bad, but that’s because they’ve never met my family.”

“I know what you mean,” Maria said dryly. “My family are very focused on the non-human side of things. That’s part of why I took my current job, to get away. I wanted something other than spending the rest of my life hunting things and jostling for a better position in the pack. My job might be demanding, but at least I’ve done something with my life.”

Darcy nodded, eyes full of sympathy.

“My family love humans, so it wasn’t that bad, but there was still a lot of ‘us vs. them’ going on,” she said. “I kind of wanted to fit in more than the rest of my family did. I don’t know about were-velociraptors,” she added, “but were-foxes are pretty proud to be what they are.”

“Were-velociraptors are more pragmatic,” said Maria. “We are what we are, so why would we try to be anything different?” She took a sip of her scotch.

Darcy eyed her thoughtfully.

“But you think differently, right?”

“Were not just velociraptors,” Maria answered pensively. “We’re humans as well, and I think my family tends to forget that.”

“Huh,” said Darcy. “I knew there were a lot of ‘deny the animal’ types around, but I never thought of people being the other way around. Denying their human side.” She made a face. “If that’s actually the way you feel, why not just leave civilisation altogether?”

“Some of my kind do,” Maria said dryly, scorn seeping into her voice. “I suppose it’s easier.”

“We must all face the choice between what is right, and what is easy,” Darcy said wisely. When Maria looked blank, Darcy exclaimed, “Oh, come on! Don’t tell me you’ve never read Harry Potter. You are missing _out_.”

Maria just shrugged.

“Hey, you know what?” Darcy said, apropos of nothing. “I know a pretty good club only a few blocks away, if you want to go dancing.”

“Clubbing isn’t really my scene,” Maria said honestly. “Too much movement and noise. Clubs tend to leave me overstimulated.”

“Oh.” Darcy’s face fell, before it brightened again. “Well, how do you feel about getting a burger? I know a place not far from here that should still be open. Plus they do cider slushies, which is awesome.”

Maria finally noticed how close she and Darcy were sitting, and how wide Darcy’s pupils were. She clued in.

“Are you asking me out?” Maria asked, surprised, and not sure how she felt about the idea.

“If I were, would you say yes?” Darcy’s voice was hopeful.

Maria stared at her.

“I’m a velociraptor. We _eat_ things like you.”

“Yeah, but you’re also human,” Darcy said, raising an eyebrow. “Weren’t you just telling me about that? And you seemed to be enjoying my company.”

Maria continued to stare, and Darcy’s veneer of confidence cracked, nervousness showing through.

“I mean,” said Darcy, “it’s not like I just asked you to marry me, or something. It’s just a date. Because I like you, and you’re awesome.”

Maria considered this in silence, while Darcy’s shoulders slowly slumped.

“Okay,” Maria said suddenly, and Darcy perked up.

Admittedly, the idea of a were-velociraptor dating a were-fox was kind of weird, but then again – they were both predators, of a kind. Maybe they had more in common than Maria thought. And Maria couldn’t remember the last time she’d really enjoyed participating in a conversation the way she had tonight, like the mere act of talking to someone was enough to make her forget the stresses of her day. And Darcy _was_ pretty.

“They better be good burgers,” Maria added. “Although the cider slushies sound promising.”

Darcy bounded to her feet enthusiastically.

“Great!” she yelped. Wincing, she lowered her voice a notch, to something less high-pitched. “You won’t regret it, I promise.”

Smiling a trickster’s smile, Darcy reached out to take Maria’s hand, and pull her to her feet. This was new, but Maria went with the movement, feeling intrigued by the woman in front of her.

“Alright then,” Maria said briskly. “Let’s go get some burgers. Just warning you, I eat a lot.”

“That’s okay,” said Darcy. She was still holding Maria’s hand, and smiling. “So do I.”  
 


End file.
